sca21fandomcom-20200214-history
Talk:Do our top sustainability organisations get active citizenship?
Barriers that Innovative Sustainability organisations face a) Difficulty to influence change particularly when other businesses offer similar services (not like for like) (i)it is not illegal (ii) There is no differentiation with Registration with the Environment Agency b) Unsustainable services are cheaper, because they are polluting c) Large Contractors continue using unsustainable services since they are cheaper d) The Public Sector normally comments they are unable to change due to existing contracts, or that they have a large Contractor and it is their responsibility e) It is myth but many believe that large organisations are fully upto date with regulations, Best Practice, Sustainability f) Difficult for micro organisations to be taken seriously particularly if they are women g) By a Sustainable organisation educating others, copy cats dilute and distorte the original operation h) It should be illegal for others to steal the knowledge under deception Major problem with 'volunteering' I read the Npf Synergy report with interest. There is a major problem with 'volunteering' where the report failed to do justice. Maybe people are reluctant, as I have been, to give the reason. I was made redundant from the senior lecturing post in 1986, and completed my PhD in 1990. Shortly after that, having been advised that it would be useful to become a school governor, I volunteered for a junior school. Sure, there was no pay. No expenses were paid, and I was expected to contribute from my pocket for school fundraising. My status was such that, although I was -- reluctantly -- allowed to sit in on some lessons, no discussion of my observations was facilitated. I did some useful work, but overall the experience failed to give me a sense that my contribution had been worthwhile, or was anything like what I might have contributed. My PhD is in Cybernetics, and I have done major work on the theory of design as it applies to access to systems. I have a 1986 Diploma in Teaching and Course Development in Higher Education, and a 1959 Diploma of the Teacher Training Association (USA) which included detailed work on the Christian Education of Children at Primary and Junior ages. I have considered the possibility of having another go in a different school, but nothing has worked out so far. But, now I find myself reluctant to face such exploitation again, with so little personal benefit, such as sense of achievement. You may know that I continue to volunteer with other organisations, a huge number of hours a week in total. The personal sense of contribution and worthwhileness are a great reward, I am happy with that. Notwithstanding what I just said, I do believe that organisations which use volunteers should offer and pay expenses freely, where appropriate. A modest allowance based on mileage for volunteer driving helps to keep the vehicle safely and legally on the road, after all. That has been a huge benefit for me as funds started off very tight (1986 to 1990's). However, given the huge and increasing responsibilities, it seems to me outrageous to expect all the current expertise (apart from school staff), that is required for a school governing body should for free. Someone, somewhere has to pay for it. Genevieve - (Genevieve's comments copied here with permission, Philralph 09:47, 12 Dec 2005 (UTC)) In the context of the Community Action 2020 Doing the right thing for sustainable development, or 'Action', 'volunteering' and 'being a volunteer in the voluntary sector'can be quite different. Community Action 2020 in the UK appears, at present, although I hope I am wrong, to be about trying to harness efforts of 'volunteers in the voluntary sector' by working with and through the professional voluntary sector. Not all sustainability fora and networks are actually constituted as formal groups, and when they are, by virtue of being local, will be small fry compared to some of the bigger environmental groups operating nationally. Accordingly, though comprised of 'volunteers' in so much as people give up time to attend meetings, and more importantly, to participate as they choose in individual or collective 'action' for sustainable development, the very groups most well placed to advance local sustainability and work with other local voluntary groups may well be off the radar. Community Action 2020 runs the risk of being top down offering a limited menu of actions deemed supportive of sustainable development, set by government and mediated through the professional voluntary sector, possibly an environmentally biased voice. This is in contrast to the bottom up, diverse and creative voluntary effort that emerged from some of the better Local Agenda 21 processes. Thus the Prime Ministers call to reinvigorate local action, in reference to the inspiration of la21 processes may be lost in the translation. To give an example of the 'invisible' volunteers, in the LA21 sustainability network I was involved with until recently, at one point there were over 1000 members on the mail list. When surveyed many individuals on this list who never attended meetings or took any active role on the group - and would thus never show up as 'volunteers' - reported that they took some 'action' on their terms as individuals simply be recieving and reading the network's newsletter. Through Community Action 2020 the UK government have an opportunity to accept, work for and with what remains from live grass roots la21 experience so the initiative can itself be sustained extended and reinvigorated.